When you use generic text like "Click Here" or "Read More" as instructions in link text, it is confusing because it says nothing about the content that will appear once the link is clicked. Remember: link targets are read out loud by screen readers.

Another thing to note: screen readers often tab from one link to the next.

Do you have a survey popup on your home page that automatically opens?

WCAG 2.0 bans all popup windows without explicit alert beforehand (WCAG 2.0 through Level AAA - 3.2.1 On Focus). New windows take the focus away from what the user is reading or doing. This is fine when the user has interacted with a piece of user interface and expects to get a new window, such as an options dialogue. The failure comes when pop-ups appear unexpectedly.

Making content accessible to people with disabilities online begins with making all types of files compliant from the start. Do you have links to Word documents on your website? If so, be sure your Word documents are compliant.

To get you started, here are seven items to test:

FAIL: Word document contains a graphic without ALT text.PASS: Use the 'Format Picture' command in Word to add ALT text

FAIL: Document file name contains spaces.PASS: Use dashes (-) to separate words in your Word file name. Keep the total number of characters in the file name between 20-30.

FAIL: Document contains background images and watermarks.PASS: Be sure the document is free of background images or watermarks.

FAIL: Color is used as a way to instruct. Colorblind visitors may not able to follow the instructions when reading your Word document.PASS: Use an instruction description that does not depend on color.

Dyslexia is a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence. It is the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties.

Of people with reading difficulties, 70-80% are likely to have some form of dyslexia. It is estimated that between 5-10% of the population has dyslexia, but this number can also be as high as 17%.

Here are some CSS tips to consider when designing web content to accommodate the dyslexic reader.

Beware Italics
Italicized characters can be difficult for dyslexics to read.

Column Widths
Use narrow column widths (60 to 80 characters). Tracking lines of unbroken text across a page can be difficult.

No Justification
Never use justified text. It causes "rivers" that make text difficult for dyslexics to read.

Use Sans-serif Fonts
Serif fonts (like Times Roman) have "feet" at the end of the letter strokes. This can be a nightmare for dyslexics to read because the letters look like they are all connected. Use sans-serif fonts.

OpenDyslexic is a new open source font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. The typeface includes regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic styles. It is being updated continually and improved based on input from dyslexic users. OpenDyslexic is free for Commercial and Personal use.
Download: http://opendyslexic.org/

Adding captions to videos definitely adds a bit of time on to a project, and is so important for accessibility. But remember that captions can also help other folks who may not be deaf or hard of hearing.

This instructor-led, hands-on course covers essential design, coding, and testing procedures for Web designers and developers who want to be sure the sites they create are accessible to as many people as possible. Class participants will build an accessible web site based on the WCAG 2.0 Standards...Levels A, AA & AAA.

It's common for web developers to use CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) functionality for anti-spam verification to make sure HTML form responses are being generated by humans and not computer "bots".

The most commonly used CAPTCHA presents a visual of distorted text for the website visitor to interpret. Another alternative is the audio CAPTCHA, offering human verification to the blind and other visually impaired people. Unfortunately, both types of CAPTCHAS offer accessibility issues:

People with visual disabilities use screen readers that cannot read a CAPTCHA.

You cannot add ALT text to a CAPTCHA image, because then a bot would be able to read it, defeating the purpose of using it.

Audio CAPTCHAs present difficulties for people with hearing disabilities.

SOLUTION:Use Text-based Logic Questions or Math Equations CAPTCHAs

Use a question rather than an image or audio to create CAPTCHA functionality.

A sample CAPTCHA question might be "Which animal is larger—an ant or a elephant?"or "What state is Boston located in?"

Another way to challenge: use math questions (e.g. "What is one plus three?").

PHP Script Solution: All CAPS vs lowercase

For those of you who use PHP, here's a simple coding trick that enables you to create an accessible CAPTCHA on an HTML form. I have used this for years on client websites, and it works great.

At the bottom of your form, create a text field named Validate. Above the field, add a validation text code of capital letters and numbers (in this case GHW53405) that the user will need to enter in order to submit the form. Also let the user know that the validation code is case-sensitive.

Once the user enters the validation text code and submits the form, add the following condition at the top of the PHP processing page:

<?php
if (strtolower($_POST['Validate']) != 'ghw53405') {
die('Sorry...you forgot to enter the special code in the form...hit your back key and try again. Please note that the special code is case-sensitive');
} else {

rest of script

}

Note that in the PHP condition you need to change the values of the capital letters used in the validation text code to lowercase (see bold above). The PHP function strtolower converts all the text characters of the submitted Validate string to lowercase. If the validation text code has been entered correctly, the rest of the script will process with no problem. If the validation code has been entered incorrectly, the submission will fail and the user will be directed back to the form.

Until now, website accessibility hasn't been a big concern for most business owners and marketers.

Owners of brick and mortar stores, restaurants and office buildings are required by law to accommodate the needs of customers with disabilities via wheelchair ramps, braille product signage, accessible restrooms, and more.

As a website owner, you will soon be required to have a website that is accessible as well.

Legislative changes are on the way.

By 2018, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will roll out official compliance guidelines concerning online accessibility for the disabled as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

DOJ will soon be expecting all websites to accommodate people with disabilities.

Whether DOJ will implement web accessibility standards is not a matter of "if", but "when."

However, waiting until it's the law may make your company legally vulnerable in the meantime if you aren't in compliance, as organizations such as Peapod, Target, Reebok, and the NBA have already found out.

In order to assure that websites and web applications are accessible to and usable by everyone, Web designers and developers must follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet.

2. IMG ALT text with acronyms can cause problems when read by screenreaders.

FAIL: <img src="mit-it-logo.jpg" alt="ITS at MIT" />
(read by a screen reader as "It’s at Mit").

SOLUTION: Include spaces in between acronym letters in the IMG ALT attribute

PASS: <img src="mit-it-logo.jpg" alt="I T S at M I T" />
(read by a screen reader as "ITS at MIT").

Links

3. Website links that are not underlined can cause problems for some users.

FAIL: Removing the underline from links makes it difficult for color-blind users to see them.

SOLUTION: Remove the text-decoration:none property from your link styles, or introduce the link underline style on both mouse hover and keyboard focus actions.

PASS:

CSS: Here is the basic declaration to add to your CSS stylesheet to activate all link underlines throughout your website:

a {text-decoration:underline;}

CSS: Here is the basic declaration to add to your CSS stylesheet to underline the link when a user hovers over a link with a mouse or activates keyboard focus when "tabbing" to the link:

a:hover, a:focus {text-decoration:underline;}

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4. Links that use general text like can cause problems for folks using screen readers.

FAIL: <a href="instructions.html">Click here</a>

When a screen reader comes across a link that reads as "click here" or "learn more," the visually-impaired person listening to the content may not have sufficient information to determine if the link is worth following or not.

SOLUTION: Use an "action" phrase that alerts the user what to expect if he/she follows the link.

<a href="instructions.html">How to use the new accessible web tool</a>.

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5. Provide a Skip Navigation link that allows keyboard and screen reader users to skip over groups of links.

FAIL: The inability to skip repetitive links can be a problem for those with mobility disabilities who use the keyboard to navigate instead of a mouse.

SOLUTION: Add a simple hyperlink at the very beginning of your HTML page:

<a class="skiptomain" href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a>

To prevent sighted users from seeing the Skip to main content link at the top of the page, add this declaration to your CSS file:

This will position the Skip to main content link 1000px off the screen for sighted users, without hiding it from screen readers. When you hit the tab key the first time, the link will receive focus and be visible at the top left corner of the page.

Color

6. Don't Use Color As Part of Your Instructional Content

FAIL: If you instruct folks to click on the red button, you may be confusing the over 108 million Web users who are color blind.

One color blindness condition is called protanopia. People with protanopia lack the long-wavelength sensitive retinal cones that are required to distinguish between colors in the green-yellow-red section of the spectrum. It is a more common form of color blindness, occurring in between 1% and 5% of males (varying by race) and in approximately 0.1% of females.

PASS:
The contrast ratio should be 3.0 or more for 18 point text, or larger
The contrast ratio should be 3.0 or more for 14 point bold text, or larger
The contrast ratio should be 4.5 or more for all other text

CSS

8. Justified text causes "rivers" that make text difficult for dyslexics to read

Absolute units are CM, MM, IN, PC and PT. When used with fonts PX is also considered an absolute unit, because it isn’t relative the user’s preferred font size. Low-vision users, and a lot of people over 50, increase the browser default font size to make text easier to read. Absolute units ignore this user choice.

FAIL:
p {font-size: 16px;}

SOLUTION:
Relative units like EM and percentages re-size according to the screen size and/or user's preferred font size, and work on a large range of devices.

Data Tables

FAIL: Without TH, screen readers apply heuristics to decide whether a table is a layout table or data table. These heuristics vary greatly between screen readers, and are affected by browser being used, window size, and font size (so the outcome is very unpredictable without TH).

SOLUTION: If a data table has headers marked up using TD, then change these to TH. If a data table has no headers, add TH elements describing each row and/or column. What does scope attribute do? This attribute specifies the set of data cells for which the current header cell provides header information.

"In the face of mounting frustration stemming from DOJ’s ongoing delays in promulgating website accessibility regulations while plaintiff’s counsel are allowed to continue to aggressively pursue claims some in the real estate industry recently decided to take action. Citing 'the growing confusion around web site accessibility,' on April 29, 2016, the National Association of Realtors wrote a letter to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division imploring DOJ to take actions to regulate the issue of website accessibility for Title III entities as soon as possible. The letter highlighted the unfortunate dynamic that currently exists as DOJ and plaintiffs’ counsel seek to enforce broad overarching civil rights provisions in the absence of any uniform federal regulations."

There are a number of color blindness conditions, including the three simulated by Etre's tool.

Protanopia: People with protanopia lack the long-wavelength sensitive retinal cones that are required to distinguish between colors in the green-yellow-red section of the spectrum. It is a more common form of color blindness, occurring in between 1% and 5% of males (varying by race) and in approximately 0.1% of females.

Here's how individuals with protanopia see the red & green buttons:

Deuteranopia: People with deuteranopia lack medium-wavelength retinal cones and are therefore also unable to distinguish between colors in the green-yellow-red section of the spectrum. Deuteranopia is a more common form of color blindness, occurring in between 1% and 5% of males (varying by race) and in approximately 0.1% of females.

Here's how people with deuteranopia see the red & green buttons:

Tritanopia: People with color blindness involving the inactivation of the short-wavelength sensitive cone system have tritanopia, a very rare blue-yellow color blindness. Tritanopia is a very rare form of color blindness, occurring in less than 0.003% of males and females.

Here's how people with tritanopia see the red & green buttons:

Accessible Best Practice: Don't use color as part of your instructional content. It will confuse and frustrate your site's color blind visitors and is considered inaccessible according to WCAG 2.0 Guidelines.

WCAG 2.0 Guidelines covered in this post:

Level A Guideline 1.4.1 Use of Color: Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.